Chapter 194 Take the lead
"I have met His Highness!"
"I have met His Highness!"
As the weather grew colder, people in the palace began to wear thicker clothes.
Prince Yu nodded and then quickened his pace.
We have arrived at the place where the class is held.
"Isn't it Mr. Xia today?"
When Prince Yu saw that the official who came to give the lecture today was a strange official, he asked.
The official looked at the man in his twenties and smiled, "Mr. Xia is not feeling well, so I will give you the lesson today."
Then the official introduced himself, "I am Zhou Xia, a reader in the Hanlin Academy."
He became a reader in the Imperial Academy at the age of twenty. This man is quite remarkable... Prince Yu nodded, sat down and asked, "How is Mr. Xu?"
Mr. Xu here refers to Xu Jie, who is in charge of the Hanlin Academy.
"Very good."
Zhou Xia then began to lecture.
He speaks clearly, has a gentle attitude, and has solid knowledge, which shows that the Hanlin Academy is serious about recommending him this time.
This lesson is about etiquette. After the lesson, Zhou Xia gave an example, "When two countries are at war, they don't kill envoys, but the Ming Dynasty killed the envoy of Altan Khan... Your Highness, do you think this is appropriate?"
Prince Yu shook his head, "Not appropriate."
Zhou Xia was not angry either, he just laughed, "Your Highness must think that killing Altan Khan's envoy is a loss of dignity for the Ming Dynasty, but you don't know that in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, Altan Khan is not a country at all. Killing Altan Khan's envoy is to tell Altan Khan that the Mongols have long been destroyed and no longer exist!"
Zhou Xia said with a gleaming look in his eyes: "This is the state system. If we communicate with Altan's envoys, it means that we acknowledge that Altan's tribe has taken over the position of the Mongols."
"Is it legitimate?" Prince Yu shook his head. "I think the so-called reputation must be based on strength.
For example, during the Former Song Dynasty, the Liao Dynasty was in decline and the Jin Dynasty was rising, which led to the formation of the Sea Alliance.
The Jin Dynasty was just a rebellion within the Liao Dynasty, but the Liao Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin Dynasty in a blink of an eye. So where did the name come from?
Then the Jin army marched south and abducted the two emperors... What is orthodoxy? It is not based on the so-called name, but it depends on who is stronger. The Jin Kingdom had no name of orthodoxy, but it destroyed the Liao Kingdom, captured Bianjing, and abducted the two emperors. "
"Your Highness is wrong. Governing the world should be based on virtue, and virtue is the foundation of reputation..."
The two began to argue.
In the end, no one could convince anyone.
Zhou Xia returned to the Hanlin Academy.
Several officials came out of the duty room. Zhou Xia bowed and asked, "Is Minister Xu here?"
"Is Zhou Shidu back? Xu Shilang is on duty." An official asked with a smile, "How was your first day of teaching the prince?"
Zhou Xia smiled and said, "It's just normal."
He walked to the duty room and knocked gently on the door.
"Come in." A gentle voice came.
Zhou Xia pushed the door open, and Xu Jie, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and concurrently in charge of the Imperial Academy, was sitting opposite him. He raised his eyes and glanced at Zhou Xia, "Wait a minute."
"Yes."
Zhou Xia took a look at the words on the wall.
That was the motto Xu Jie wrote for himself.
——Hey! You passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-one, and assisted the emperor at the age of forty-three. The grace of the country is great, so why do you call yourself a savior? You have not devoted all your loyalty and hard work, but have formed a party to exclude the virtuous, or sold the law for bribes, or betrayed the public to flatter, or used your salary to work for yourself. The gods will punish you, and your descendants will also be punished. Alas! How terrible!
It is indeed the upright Minister Xu!
After Xu Wei finished reading the documents and packed them up, he said gently, "How about teaching Prince Yu on the first day?"
Zhou Xia frowned slightly, "Before I left, I heard that Prince Yu was taught a little bit biased by Chang Wei Bo. Today, I tried to test him through the lesson of etiquette. I used the example of beheading the envoy of Altan Khan to show that the court does not recognize Altan Khan as the successor of the Mongols."
"What does Prince Yu say?" Xu Jie had a fair complexion and a beard that was not very thick, but very neat and clean.
"Prince Yu's remarks generally mean that reputation must be based on strength, otherwise the reputation is useless. I also noticed that Prince Yu is somewhat dissatisfied with the current scholars."
However, there is no need to exaggerate the remarks of a prince. In Zhou Xia's opinion, Prince Yu will be enfeoffed as a vassal king in a few years and will have no influence on the government.
"What's wrong with you?" Xu Jie asked.
"Prince Yu implied that the scholars of today only know how to talk big but don't know how to do things down to earth."
"Fame needs strength as its foundation, while scholars are flashy but not practical," Xu Jie concluded.
"Yes."
Xu Jie stroked his beard and said gently: "The Hanlin Academy is a place to train talents for the country. I have heard of the name of Chang Wei Bo for a long time.
This man was a scholar at the age of thirteen, and made a great success. However, as the son of a son-in-law, his talent could not be fully utilized. After killing someone, he unexpectedly became a close minister to the emperor... How many people can calmly endure such ups and downs?"
These words seem to imply that Jiang Qingzhi has become somewhat arrogant and conceited after experiencing all these ups and downs.
Zhou Xia agreed with this and said, "Prince Yu's opinion is obviously what Chang Wei Bo has always advocated. And I have also heard what Chang Wei Bo said. He believes that all false names are flashy but not real..."
Xu Jie listened carefully and nodded after a long while. "You are now the prince's husband. You may seem to be in high spirits, but you must remember..."
Zhou Xia stood there with his hands behind his back.
Xu Jie said in a gentle voice: "When you are successful, you should be restrained, and when you are frustrated, you should be perseverant."
Xu Jie was once an ambitious young man, but he suffered repeated setbacks after entering the government, and gradually learned to endure.
"Yes." Zhou Xia accepted the instruction respectfully.
"As for Prince Yu's teaching..." Xu Jie thought for a moment, "According to the rules, the teaching of the prince should be led by our Imperial Academy, but Your Majesty asked Chang Wei Bo... If it were someone else, Chang Wei Bo and I hold very different views, so conflicts are inevitable. You..."
Zhou Xia's eyes lit up, "Don't worry, Minister Xu, I won't lose anyone from the Hanlin Academy."
"You can't just throw away the people in the Hanlin Academy if you want to." Xu Jie smiled and said gently, "But there's no need to avoid a fight. So, you can tell me about your arguments with Prince Yu in the future."
Zhou Xia was startled, "You want to..."
Xu Jie said: "Let me take this opportunity to discuss the Dao!"
"Yes."
Zhou Xia took his leave.
Xu Jie withdrew his gaze, and there was a hint of tenacity in his eyes.
"I have been dormant for many years just to show what I have learned. Everyone says that the imperial court is out of reach, and I should go and see how high it is. But before that, I will use that young nobleman, the emperor's close minister, to test it..."
……
Prince Yu came to eat early in the morning, but the little girl didn't come. It was said that Prince Jing had been arranged by Concubine Lu.
"Did the new teacher from the Hanlin Academy say this?"
"Yes. He said that killing Altan's envoys meant that he did not recognize Altan as the heir of the Mongols."
"Is it justified?"
"Yes. Uncle, this Mr. Zhou is not extreme, but he seems to be somewhat dissatisfied with you."
The longer a person feels depressed and invisible, the more sensitive he will become.
This is what Prince Yu did. He was keenly aware of Zhou Xia's dissatisfaction with Jiang Qingzhi.
"I don't care what he thinks of me, and there's no need to care." Jiang Qingzhi smiled, "But why do I smell something familiar about this person?"
He suddenly remembered, "Who is in charge of the Hanlin Academy now?"
"Xu Jie, the Minister of Personnel."
"Old Xu!"
Xu Jie of Huating is the second famous Gou Jian in history.
"Uncle, should I pretend to be stupid from now on?" Prince Yu asked.
Damn, the little bastard is getting smarter.
However, it feels good to fight with Old Xu from a distance... Jiang Qingzhi shook his head, "No need to do that. If Zhou Xia frequently tempts you to argue, don't be polite, go all out! If you can't win, come and ask me."...
In the afternoon, the old man came to the Jiang family for dinner.
"Where's Qingzhi?"
Fu Cheng said, "Master is bathing Duoduo."
Tsk!
The old man felt that Jiang Qingzhi was wasting his time on trivial matters.
The sun is shining brightly today. There is a mat under the big tree in the yard. Duoduo lies on the mat with his legs spread out after taking a bath. Jiang Qingzhi sits on the side with his back against the tree trunk.
"You and your cat seem to be quite leisurely." The old man sat down.
"Hey! Mr. Xia, I have something to ask you."
"explain."
Both of them closed their eyes and felt the cold wind blowing.
"Xu Jie is considered your student, right?"
"Not really." Xia Yan said, "But I admired this person quite a lot back then."
The old man was proud and disdained to mention the fact that he had promoted and cultivated Xu Jie in the past.
"Boy, don't underestimate Xu Jie because he is a low-key person. If you want to achieve great things, you must learn to be patient." This was Xia Yan's realization after escaping death this time.
"Ok!"
Jiang Qingzhi knew better than anyone what kind of person Xu Jie was, and he knew better than Xu Jie himself what kind of person he would become in the future.
"This cat is quite interesting." Xia Yan couldn't help laughing when he saw Duoduo lying on his back.
"Don't touch it!" Not everyone can touch Duoduo.
"I brought some dried fish today, but I don't believe it..."
Xia Yan reached out his hand tentatively.
Just touched Duoduo's belly.
"Meow!"
"oops!"
……
"Tell me! Who else in the Ministry of War has embezzled money and grain?"
There were constant howlings in the Jinyiwei's torture chamber.
Lu Bing walked into the torture room and asked, "Can you speak now?"
Zhu Hao said proudly: "Three people have spoken, and the rest are recalling."
"Jiang Qingzhi is about to take action." Lu Bing said in a deep voice, "Before that, let these people speak up and dig out those rats in the Ministry of War."
Zhu Hao said with a smile: "Don't worry, Commander. When it comes to fighting, who are we, the Jinyiwei, afraid of? Even those bastards from the East Factory will be defeated by us."
"Do a good job!" Lu Bing patted Zhu Hao on the shoulder.
Outside the torture room, Shen Lian was waiting.
"Yan Shifan sent someone to tell us that Jiang Qingzhi and Wang Yiqi are friends, so we need to get this done as soon as possible and not give Jiang Qingzhi a chance to win over the people in the Ministry of War. And then..."
Shen Lian looked extremely dissatisfied, "Since the trip to Xuanfu, His Majesty has allowed Jiang Qingzhi to participate in government affairs step by step. He handled the Xuanfu affairs beautifully.
Old Lu, are you good at commanding troops? I am not, but I know that morale should be boosted and not let down. We must act immediately and use this incident to interrupt his momentum!"
Lu Bing turned around, "Zhu Hao!"
"Here!" Zhu Hao came out, "Commander."
"Be ruthless!" Lu Bing's eyes showed more cruelty.
"Yes."
Zhu Hao went in, and instantly the screams from inside became several pitches higher.
"I said, I said..."
Soon Lu Bing got the confession, and he said, "Keep an eye on Jiang Qingzhi, prepare the men, and arrest him when I leave the palace."
Watching him leave in a hurry, Shen Lian felt depressed.
"What? Are you unhappy seeing that I, the Jinyiwei, am suppressing Jiang Qingzhi?" Zhu Hao couldn't stand people like Shen Lian who held the Jinyiwei's bowl but thought that the Jinyiwei were dishonest.
"Do you think Jiang Qingzhi is so easy to suppress?" Shen Lian sneered, "Many civil and military officials in Xuanfu were involved in corruption, which was a den of wolves for Jiang Qingzhi. But he not only handled the matter beautifully, but also involved a cavalry unit of Altan Khan. Do you think such a person is so easy to suppress?"
Zhu Hao looked at him with disdain, "He is good at commanding troops, but when it comes to investigating things, he is far behind."
Shen Lian turned sideways and looked at his face.
"Why are you looking at my face?" Zhu Hao touched his face subconsciously.
"I wonder what this face would look like if it was severely slapped by Jiang Qingzhi."
……
Lu Bing entered the West Garden and saw Jiang Qingzhi with dirty hands.
"My Lord! You have dug up all the flowers and plants in the West Garden. Please leave some for Your Majesty!"
The eunuch accompanying Jiang Qingzhi smiled bitterly.
"Your Majesty is practicing Taoism all day long, and these flowers and plants are wasted without anyone to appreciate them. I am doing a good deed."
Jiang Qingzhi looked serious, but he saw Lu Bing, "Old Lu, where is... the guard?"
Lu Bing subconsciously glanced at the room on the right which was specially used for the guards to rest.
Mo Zhan, the guard who killed Ding Qing that day, was standing outside the door, staring at him sharply.
The first sword in Xuanfu!
Afterwards, someone told Lu Bing about this man's situation. He was an excellent swordsman, but he didn't know how to use connections, so he couldn't get a promotion.
Lu Bing looked at this person deeply and said, "Let's go."
After walking for a while with the eunuch, Lu Bing looked back and saw Jiang Qingzhi still looking at the flowers and plants. He thought to himself that this man didn't even go to the Ministry of War to investigate the case...
Is it because he has a plan in mind?
But I have the confession in my hand, how can you, Jiang Qingzhi, turn the tables?
Emperor Jiajing had just woken up and when he saw Lu Bing, he asked about the recent situation of his children at home.
"They are all very well-behaved and obedient, and are willing to study and make progress."
Lu Bing smiled.
"Teach them well, and from now on..." Emperor Jiajing stopped talking, but everyone knew that he was affectionate, and if nothing unexpected happened, Lu Bing's children would be rich and prosperous.
"Your Majesty, I have obtained the list of corrupt officials in the Ministry of War." Lu Bing took out the list, "The Jinyiwei worked tirelessly for several days and found out... a total of more than 50 officials, involving more than 900,000 strings of cash..."
Credit goes to you!
Lu Bing raised his eyes, but found that there was something wrong with the look in Emperor Jiajing's eyes.
"More than 900,000 strings of cash?"
"Yes."
Emperor Jiajing took out another booklet.
"The list in my hand shows that the amount paid is over million guan."
Who can check so quickly?
Who is it? Lu Bing looked up suddenly.
The wind blew in from outside the palace, blowing the book in Emperor Jiajing's hand. The cover page turned over, and on the first page it was written: Your Majesty, Jiang Qingzhi reports...
……
Asking for votes.
(End of this chapter)
